This prototype Electric Tram is being tested in China, it runs on white painted lines in the road. Its highly advanced batteries give it amazing serviceability and it carries over 300 people.

Everyday I’m sent examples of new ways of developing electric transport capabilities. From cars to aeroplanes the future is electric and combined with the enormous development of renewable energy we are entering a new fossil fuel free era.

We can dramatically reduce pollution which effects everyone of us going about our daily routine.

We can begin to reverse the worst forecasts of climate change and together make our Planet once again safe for the generations to come.

Join us in spreading the word that the UK should be taking a lead in developing renewable energy and of course majoring on moving from petrol/diesel powered transport to electric or eventually even hydrogen.

None of our political parties are focussing on renewable energy or climate change the most important issues of our times. Hold your potential MP’s locally to account and make commitments of support on both subjects.

Our commitment is clear, to the Planet, to landscape, to people and of course to the Natural World.

Tell us your own stories about installing solar, buying an electric car anything that will give confidence to other people thinking of making changes.

Forward our website details to all your friends, relatives and colleagues. Lets shout about this new energy and really get the show on the road here in the UK.

We have an amazing opportunity to say No to Nuclear and Hinkley Point B and focus on a future that embraces renewable energy and builds a sustainable future for us all.

Please read on:

LEADING ARTICLE
july 29 2016, 12:01am, the times
No Point in Hinkley
Alternatives to the large-scale nuclear power station planned for Somerset are now so numerous that the government should cut its losses and start again

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Hours after the French energy giant EDF gave final approval for its investment in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station last night, the government put the project under review. It was right to do so. The EDF decision is the wrong one for British consumers, Britain’s energy infrastructure and for the company itself. As part of a sensible overhaul of this country’s energy strategy for the next half-century, taking into account fast-changing renewable technologies that could render fossil fuels obsolete within a generation, Hinkley Point needs to be scrapped.
The twin reactors planned for the Somerset site would constitute the biggest and most expensive nuclear power station in the world. Their combined capacity would power five million homes and help to make up a shortfall that the National Grid already has to remedy by paying inflated prices to existing power producers. But EDF’s design is unproven and unaffordable. The project as a whole is too dependent on Chinese investment. Even EDF is not wholly behind it. Last year its chief financial officer resigned rather than support it. Yesterday a board member quit for the same reason.

Hinkley Point C was supposed to produce electricity from next year. The earliest date now envisaged is 2025. If that were plausible the project might still be worth considering. In reality two plants of the same design now under construction in Finland and France are years behind schedule and billions over budget after a series of technical problems. Two more in China have been built faster and more cheaply but have yet to enter service.

EDF has modified the design for France’s own modernisation plans. It is absurd to persist with the discredited version at Hinkley Point, especially when there are so many alternatives.

The US, Japan and Britain’s own Rolls-Royce produce smaller nuclear reactors that could fit more flexibly and much less expensively into our future energy mix. Gas-powered stations can be built in as few as two years once planning requirements have been met, and are the cleanest, most efficient bridge to a low-carbon supply as Britain’s last coal-powered plants are phased out.

Most auspiciously, recent advances in artificial photosynthesis offer the prospect of a solar power revolution that is likely to pull renewables from the fringe to the centre of the energy industry within the lifetime of any nuclear plant under construction today. Last month a team from Harvard announced a breakthrough towards “artificial leaves” that can produce liquid fuel from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide — as plants do, but with up to ten times the efficiency. A second project, at the University of Illinois, has achieved the same trick with low-cost catalysts built into solar panels producing burnable gas rather than electricity. The process solves the energy storage problem that conventional solar power can only address with batteries.

Artificial photosynthesis has long been seen as a holy grail of energy science because its output is carbon-neutral and its input, the sun, is limitless. Its commercialisation will take time, but that of traditional solar panels is far advanced. Falling in price by an average of 10 per cent a year, they are expected to produce a fifth of the planet’s power within a decade.

Energy planners must be nimble enough to embrace these new technologies. To proceed with Hinkley Point C instead is to be held hostage to a design that is outdated before it is built and will never be commercially viable. The strike price agreed by Britain for EDF is twice the current wholesale price for electricity. The evidence suggests that Britain and France are pressing ahead with Hinkley Point C to save the blushes of successive governments that put their faith in it without paying enough attention to its many flaws. Shame on them.

Regen SW statement regarding Feed in Tariff cuts

Commenting on the cuts on the support for renewable energy today, Regen SW chief executive Merlin Hyman said:

“The Government has pulled back from the worst of its proposals to cut support for renewable energy following a strong reaction from communities and businesses.

However, the strict caps to support for renewables are in painful contrast to the ambitions set out in Paris at the weekend.

The Paris agreements have fired the starting gun on the global race to clean energy and made the shift to a radically different decentralised energy system unstoppable. The UK clean energy sector is determined to play a leading role in that shift despite the UK Governments attempts to prop up fossil fuel and nuclear power.”

Summary of key points from Feed in Tariff (FIT) announcements:

The FIT budget has been confirmed as up to £100m from 15 January 2016 up to the end of 2018/19

The Government response sets out measures to pause new applications to the FIT scheme from 15 January to 8 February to allow time for the implementation of cost control measures through the parliamentary process

Quarterly deployment caps will be introduced from 8 February 2016, including a queuing system for applicants who miss out on quarterly caps

A two stage re-cycling mechanism for underspent budget within the FIT scheme will be introduced

Tariff levels for <50kW solar PV and >50kW to 1.5MW onshore wind have received a small uplift compared to that proposed in the consultation. Other technologies and bandings have received tariff levels as set out in the consultation with the exception of standalone solar PV and hydro, which have received further reductions

Pre-accreditation of projects will been re-introduced from 8 February 2016

Generation tariff’s for extensions will be removed for all installations which commission on or after 15 January 2016

Government does not propose to introduce changes to the FIT scheme in relation to export tariffs, tariff indexation, competition, smart meters and grid management.

A separate consultation is expected for anaerobic digestion tariff levels and sustainability criteria early in 2016

The banding review consultation for solar PV projects of 5MW and below within the Renewables Obligation has been published today. Details can be found here

The full Government response to the Feed in Tariff review can be found here

Community Energy England spell out the crisis facing Community Renewable Energy Projects in future and details of Decc’s response.

Less than a week after the historic climate agreement was agreed in Paris, DECC has today published its response to the Feed-in Tariff consultation, the content of which highlights again the UK government’s lack of commitment to the green economy. The results of the Feed in Tariff consultation provide little support or encouragement for communities attempting to install rooftop solar on community buildings including schools and community scale hydro schemes.

The re-introduction of pre-accreditation for rooftop solar schemes over 50kW is welcome but overall we are very disappointed by the outcome of this consultation. Initial feedback from our members indicates that at the rates proposed for most schemes over 10kW are currently not viable for community schemes which are accustomed to offering additional benefits such as reduced price electricity to schools and creating local funds for alleviation of fuel poverty. We are also very concerned that operation of the caps will have a disproportionate impact on the community solar sector which has very limited resources to develop projects compared to the commercial solar sector.

Our press release on DECC’s response which includes comments from Sharenergy and the Low Carbon Hub is available here. Please share with your contacts and local MPs.
A summary of DECC’s response is available below.

Community Energy England will be working hard with the support of its members to develop business models to enable to the community energy sector to adapt and grow. In order to do this more effectively we will be recruiting additional staff in the new year (more details to follow). I would also like to welcome Alex Germanis, from Pure Leapfrog, as a new board member and Chris Rowland, from Community Energy South, as a board advisor. At our AGM, Alex and Chris put themselves forward as Directors and only very narrowly missed out being voted in. The board agreed that due to their wealth of knowledge and expertise they would be very valuable additions to CEE and so were asked to become involved in board activities.

Finally, I would like to thank Gemma Cater, who has been interning with us over the last 3 months and whose last day it is tomorrow. Gemma has been a huge help in leading on our social media and gathering intelligence from our members and a range of MPs.

Emma Bridge

Chief Executive
Community Energy England

Summary of DECC’s FiT consultation response

DECC has released its response to the consultation on a review of the Feed-in Tariff.

Key decisions include:
· The budget for FITs to April 2019 is up to £100m of new spend from January 2016

· There is no separate tariff for community energy but this is to be kept under review

· New tariffs will come into force on 8 February 2016 (table of new tariffs below)

· Under new tariffs, Government is targeting a 4.8% rate of return for solar, 5.9% for wind, and 9.2% for hydro

· A quarterly deployment cap system will be introduced, with a queuing system for applicants who miss out on a quarterly cap. Some of the deployment caps are very low i.e. only an estimated 70 rooftops over 50kW per quarter will be allowed in 2016

· Only one degression threshold will be implemented at the level of each quarterly cap. The new rate will be a flat 10% if the cap is hit

· The first cap period will run from 8 February to 31 March 2016

· Pre-accreditation will be re-introduced for solar and wind over 50kW and all AD and hydro projects with an additional 6 months for community energy projects from 8 February

· Pre-registration will not be re-introduced at this stage. It may be re-introduced if an implementable system can be devised which delivers cost control and reduces gaming. DECC will issue an update early next year

· FiT will be removed on extensions for all installations commissioned on or after 15 January

Table of new tariffs:

Tariffs (p/kWh)
Installed capacity
New tariffs

PV
1000kW
0.87
Stand alone
0.87

Wind
1500kW
0.86
Hydro
2000kW
4.43

A pause to the FiTs scheme will be implemented from 15 January 2016 to 8 February 2016 when the new tariff and deployment caps will be put in place. During the pause, no new installations will be accredited for FITs except for those with pre-accreditation granted before 1 October 2015 who are applying for accreditation within the period of validity of the pre accreditation. Installations which commission and apply for FITs during the pause will be in the queue when the new deployment caps and tariffs come into force on 8 February 2016.

DECC will launch a separate consultation in early 2016 to consider tariffs and degression for anaerobic digestion (AD) and micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) technologies. DECC also intends to revisit the topic of sustainability criteria for AD plant, setting out more detailed proposals than those outlined in this consultation.

Consultation on the levels of banded support for new solar PV under the Renewables Obligation

Also published today, this consultation sets out the Government’s proposals for reduced support under the Renewables Obligation for solar PV up to 5MW, to apply from 1 June 2016. The proposals will affect solar PV generating stations with an accreditation date from 23 July 2015 onwards (and additional capacity added to existing accredited stations that does not take it above 5MW in total installed capacity), unless they are eligible for the specified grandfathering exception, the significant financial commitment grace period or the banding reduction exception.

The consultation also sets out the proposed eligibility criteria for the banding reduction exception that was announced in the December 2015 Government response to the consultation on changes to financial support for solar PV. This exception will apply to projects which can demonstrate that a significant financial commitment had been made on or before 22 July 2015. It will give those projects protection against the reduction in support proposed under the banding review.

Deadline for comments to DECC is 27 January. Full details at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-level-of-banded-support-for-new-solar-pv-under-the-renewables-obligation

Update on pre-action letter to Treasury

In our last newsletter we informed members that CEE had served on HM Treasury a ‘Letter before Action’ in accordance with the Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review challenging the implementation of proposed changes to the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) for community energy enterprises.

We have received a response from the government lawyers, but they omitted to include the relevant evidence. This is due before the end of the week, so we will provide an update after that.

Community share offers

An amazing £12.8m was raised in November for community energy schemes across the country in the run up to the deadline for EIS. This really demonstrates the public support that there is for community energy. I know a lot of work and very long hours went into this success so congratulations to all those involved.

Membership

Welcome to our newest member:
· Joju solar – one of the longest-standing MCS-accredited solar installers in the country. They have carried out hundreds of solar installations for home owners, businesses, public authorities and community organisations.

Other News

EBR action: write to National Infrastructure Commission
The Chancellor announced at the Conservative Party Conference the creation of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), led by Lord Adonis. The aim of the Commission is to make independent judgements about the future infrastructure needs of the UK and advise the Government accordingly. The creation of this Commission is an important opportunity for us to finally get home energy efficiency recognised as a huge infrastructure opportunity for the UK.

The NIC is conducting a consultation to investigate three initial infrastructure areas, transport in the north of England, transport in London and balancing electricity supply and demand. Home energy efficiency does not fit neatly into the consultation questions although it is important for this consultation to recognise that if most, or even a sizeable proportion of our future heat is delivered by electricity (as expected), then this could have enormous implications for electricity supply. To mitigate this risk means making all UK homes energy efficient.

The Energy Bill Revolution is encouraging as many people as possible to write to the NIC before their consultation closes on 8th January, calling for home energy efficiency to be made an infrastructure priority and asking them to conduct a full consultation as soon as possible to investigate this huge infrastructure opportunity.

Ofgem: Update to Sustainable Development Indicators
Ofgem’s Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs) assess the sustainability of the gas and electricity markets in Great Britain, and are structured along three core themes: 1) environmental impact; 2) social outcomes, bills and quality of service; and 3) reliability and safety.
The updated indicators include:
· Electricity intensity

· Power station emissions: nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide

· Proportion of total domestic customer accounts in debt by fuel type

· Energy spend as a percentage of total household expenditure

· Large suppliers: Complaints received per 100,000 customer accounts as a weighted average.

Please let us know if other people in your organisation want to receive our newsletter, or if you wish to unsubscribe from future newsletters.

What do you think, tell your local MP what you would like to see happen, we can all make a difference !

One of my heroes David Attenborough was interviewed this morning on the Andrew Marr Show and asked about his views on climate change.

His response was that if we only replace now fossil fuels with renewables we can turn back climate change.

This is so fundamental and such a small step to take so we urge you to support renewables, get involved and make things happen. Urge your MP’s, local Coucillors and Company Leaders to create serious plans to go renewable.

We know that costs will overtime plummet and our bills let alone the cost to the Planet will come down.

Wherever there are strong local communities get together and creat your own local Community Energy Schemes using the many vehicles that now exist for making this possible.

DA has just come back from meeting with President Obama who he engages with questions on climate change and his attitudes towards it.

The following is a short video trailering tonights programme, try and make the effort to watch two pretty amazing people talking together.

Power in the hands of other Countries

Europe imports over half the energy it consumes. Only Denmark is left as an exporter. We import 90 percent of our crude oil. We import 66 percent of our natural gas. Even 40 percent of our nuclear fuel comes from beyond European borders.

So my friends to state the obvious that if we want to have a sustainable energy supply for the UK its time to get fully behind, wind, water and solar power generation.

Lets not quibble about how we get there just letsgetenergized and make it happen.

Cover all new roof spaces with Solar or Plants

I just read this article on the Guardian website and its so simple why don’t we do something similar. Local authorities will be empowered to ensure that on all new builds they will have to have either solar panels or plant covering. Both options are a win, win for the local community with new natural energy being created or more food and living space for wildlife.

In the coming years we shall be having Local Plans created probably without any input from many of the communities that they are being created for.

Here’s an idea to take to your own Local Plan facilitators, get involved and see what they are doing, are they thinking Green, local and sustainable.

News from Regen SW

Community and localised energy supply can benefit consumers, renewable generators and network operators. However, there are still many commercial and regulatory barriers to selling the energy you generate directly to your local community. In the context of increasing grid constraints, we need to look at how local supply can help overcome this barrier. So where do we go from here?

Sign the 10:10 petition to buy your power direct from local wind, solar and hydro here.

Join us for the Community Energy Markets Conference, 25 June, Bristol.

This conference will address the next steps for community energy markets. We will examine what local supply projects are currently in place, what issues they have faced and how policy or regulation can help solve these problems.

Sessions include:

Policy overview and context

Examples of local supply models

How local supply can overcome grid constraints

Confirmed speakers:

Fiona Booth, head of community energy, DECC

Jeff Hardy, sustainable energy policy team, OFGEM

Sonya Bedford, partner, Stephens Scown

To book for this conference please click here.Regen are offering community energy groups in our network a discount of £75 off the members rate bringing it to £50 + VAT.Full details and booking are available here. Use the code ‘discount’ when making your booking.

The Island of Eigg “Renewable Energy in ACTION”

This week’s radio 4 programme Costing the Earth described how the people of one of the UK’s most remote Islands had developed a renewable energy plan that now provides the Island with 90% of its energy and in the near future they hope to have 100% sustainability.

Their plan and implementation is creating a blueprint for Islands around the World to create similar renewable energy projects.

If you subscribe to Iplayer the programme is inspirational and you will be well rewarded for your time.

Equally this link will take you to an informative and interesting report on the project.

Scotland and Egg is leading the way with development and implementation of renewable energy projects that can and will be our main source of energy moving forward into the next decade.

Just a quick post as its Election Week to recommend you check out Friends of the Earth’s page on the Election manifestos: highs and lows to help you understand where all the parties stand on key environmental issues.

vince adams comments:
"There is one thing we can all do, take a look at this !!
This report by a Duke University Professor interested me: “As Duke University Professor Drew Shindell noted recently:
[D]amages from a typical mid-range gasoline-powered vehicle total nearly $2,000 a year. In comparison, annual damages associated with an electric vehicle are around $1,000 if the power comes exclusively from coal, about $300 if the power is generated using natural gas, and minimal if the electricity is from renewable sources.
The World Health Organization estimates that around 7 million people die per year as a result of air pollution exposure, and, as organizations across the board are noting, ocean acidification that hurts fisheries is a threat to both local economies and the people who rely on the ocean as a food source”
It means my electric car using my own renewable energy is almost carbon free. It also means that I’m not adding to air pollution which I believe to be one of the most serious threats to our health and the Planet.
My own 2nd generation Leaf will soon be up for sale as I am upgrading so anyone who is interested let me know, I don’t wish to profit from a sale but it will need a good home and be at a very fair market price with no commissions etc
"
May 10, 2015 a 11:59 am

Anna Celeste comments:
"Hi Karl, it is very disappointing news for our environment and animals too. I read a great response from Animal Aid though with regards to how its people that really change things – it relates to animal welfare but it can apply to green issues too, in that we can all support renewable energy at home and in our communities, and support green organisations who are fighting to protect our planet – its on http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/news_living//3263//
"
May 8, 2015 a 1:28 pm

Karl Bristol comments:
"I fear the worst after today’s results; our environment is in desperate need of saving and it looks like this simply will not be happening
"
May 8, 2015 a 1:17 pm

The latest Which? customer service satisfaction survey has revealed that the Big Six energy companies have lost 2 million customers but complaints are up by a third.

nPower have the highest average complaints in the industry, whereas 100% Gloucestershire based green energy suppliers Ecotricity have the lowest industry complaints and impressively for the 5th year running (receiving only 0.86 complaints per 1000 customers in 2014) which is great news, although of course we are not surprised as many of our Lets Get Energized team are happy customers for our home energy supply!

“The energy industry is, slowly, changing for the better – switching is getting quicker and more people are changing suppliers looking not just for better prices, but also for better service. These latest figures demonstrate that, despite the mass migration away from the Big Six, which is itself often due to poor customer service – the Big Six are getting worse.

“We know that customer service is a key driver of switching; we publish this league table each year because Ofgem won’t do it, for some reason. The online switching sites, which Ofgem regulates, also refuse to give prominence to customer service, focusing solely on price. Both could do better, and people need to know if they are jumping out of the frying pan into the fire – when it comes to leaving their old supplier for poor service.

“Ecotricity has had the lowest number of industry complaints for five years running and we also topped the 2014 Which? energy customer satisfaction survey – we do that by treating people how we would want to be treated, by answering the phone quickly, resolving complaints as they arise, and using a customer service team based here in Gloucestershire who answer the phone themselves, with no automated call waiting. These are basic things that so much of the industry just gets plain wrong.”

While Ecotricity, along with First Utility and SSE, have now cut switching times to 17 days (including a 14 day cooling off period), the rest of the industry has yet to do the same and still take up to 35 days to switch customers – they have until the end of the year to cut switch times according to Ofgem’s new regulations.

Make the simple switch to Ecotricity (and celebrate with a £50 John Lewis voucher too!)

If you want to switch energy supplier and enjoy competitive fixed prices as well as top customer satisfaction, it couldn’t be easier to switch to Ecotricity and literally takes less than five minutes.

To help you celebrate the switch to green energy this Christmas, they will also give you a £50 voucher to spend at John Lewis, if you switch through Lets Get Energized.

Lets Get Energized with Renewable Energy!

Lets Get Energized is your online guide to renewable energy and sustainable living with the latest news, views and tips plus exclusive special offers to help you save energy and money, beat rising energy prices, combat climate change and be more self sufficient – right now, and for your future...